Paper · Published
Dialogical self-regulation through inner-voice personification
This paper introduces the concept of Dialogical Inner Voice Personification (DIVP): a formless, persistent inner dialogue partner that emerges spontaneously in childhood, operates through linguistic turn-taking, and is experienced as part of the self rather than as a separate entity. Drawing on an eight-session autoethnographic interview series, the study maps DIVP at the convergence point of five research areas: inner speech development, imaginary companions, Dialogical Self Theory, giftedness and overexcitability, and non-pathological voice-hearing.
Where it sits matters: DIVP is not an imaginary companion (it has no form, name, or independence), not a symptom (it is self-attributed, non-distressing, and functional), and not ordinary inner speech (it stays expanded and dialogical where most inner speech condenses with age). Naming it gives gifted children with the same experience a framework — and a reason not to be pathologized.